Billings to refine the accuracy of-and expand the applications for-drop forging, a process of producing complex shapes from metal by, quite literally, dropping a heavy hammer or press with a die pattern onto the metal. Post-War Innovations Boost Industrial EfficiencyĪfter the Civil War, Spencer remained active in manufacture and the development of new ideas. After personally testing the rifle, Lincoln arranged for the army and navy to formally evaluate the firearm before its official acceptance for service. Although Spencer faced many bureaucratic obstacles when trying to interest the United States Army in his firearm, he eventually gained access to President Abraham Lincoln for a demonstration. By 1862 he had established the Spencer Repeating Rifle Company in Boston, Massachusetts, in order to produce the firearm for the Union army during the American Civil War.Īs the firearm’s inventor, Spencer witnessed his weapon become the standard arm for the Union cavalry in the latter stages of the Civil War. In 1860 he patented his most famous invention, the breech-loading repeating rifle, which allowed ammunition to be loaded into a chamber at the rear of the gun barrel rather than at the muzzle.
In the mid-1850s, Spencer acquired his first patent for an automatic silk-winding machine, used by the Willimantic Linen Company of Windham. Mustered out February 12 and discharged at Jackson, Mich., March 15, 1866.Portrait of Christopher Miner Spencer from the book Commemorative Biographical Record of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1901. Garrison duty at San Antonio and scouting along frontier to Rio Grande until February 12, 1866. I live in San Antonio and bought the Spencer uld it be that it has been in San Antonio, or close by, since the end of the war From Civil War Archive: March from Shreveport to San Antonio, Texas, July 10-August 2 1865. When the rifle was being discharged, it would shoot splinters of lead into the left wrist and hand of the person firing it. The historian of the 9th states that the Colt was a very effective arm but did have one serious drawback. One cavalry regiment mainly armed with the Colt revolving rifles (357) during the first half of the year was the 9th Illinois Cavalry. In this manner, cavalry regiments, such as the 2nd and 3rd Michigan, were issued Spencer carbines (2nd) and Starr carbines (for the 3rd) to replace their Colt rifles. They would turn in their arms before going on leave and often, upon returning, be issued different ones.
SERIAL NUMBER SPENCER 1865 SERIAL
Now, regarding your Spencer Carbine, serial 36503, according to my SRS Volume, I find that your Spencer Carbine may have been issued or re-issued to a member of Co I of the 3rd Michigan Volunteer Cavalry on or about June, 1864.įor example, I found this paragraph: During the early days of 1864, many Union regiments re-enlisted and were given veteran furloughs. I certainly and absolutely make no claim to the accuracy of my unscientific conjecture and you should use the information I offer only if you want to, and not to accept it as Gospel. Im guessing and estimating at the same time on what I believe to be correct information based upon the information I find in my four volume set of SRS. I call this unscientific conjecture the Two Flints guesstimation.
SERIAL NUMBER SPENCER 1865 SERIAL NUMBERS
In most cases, if the serial numbers for the Spencer before and after your own serial number were issued to the same unit, I assume your Spencer MAY have been assigned to the same unit. What I do is the following: I take your Spencer serial number and try to place it in between the two closest serial numbers I find listed in my SRS volume(s).
Unfortunately, not all the Spencer serial numbers are listed in the four volume set I own.Īnd, to make identification even more difficult, there are huge and multiple gaps between indicated serial numbers.Īs a courtesy to SSS members, I am happy to reveal to you the information I have regarding the serial number of your Spencer carbine or rifle. I purchased the set so I could maybe help SSS members identify which unit their original Spencer Carbine or rifle was issued or assigned to during, and perhaps, after the Civil War. So, here it is: Some time ago I acquired the four volume set of the Springfield Research Service (SRS) Serial Numbers of U.S.
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